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I agree with Admiral Croissant on the chains, they look quite odd IMO. Since that is already part of the custom work I would (at least I plan to do so in my WIP) extend the ropes from the shrouds to the desired place and glue them to the side bricks. Purists will hate it but I think it turns quite nice and more realistic On the other side with your dead-eye's technique that is not very easy to do.

The grille is also a nice addition. Are you intending to glue the ratlines? I've tried them inspired by Perfectionist and I am very pleased with the result. Getting the technique right takes some tries though and also some fingers glued but its rather easy ofter some attempts and the end result is delicious.

Keep up the excellent work!

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I’m a little tardy to the conversation here, but wow, that rigging looks great! I may have to borrow some of your concepts for my next project. If I’m not mistaken, your lower shrouds are all one section of cord, which doubles back, extending all the way up to the fighting tops? Did you not have trouble getting them taught without canting your masts out of position? I tried something similar before and it was an utter nightmare. The whole ship is fantastic and I honestly hope to have a chance to see her complete and in person some day.

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Are you going to fully rig this ship with sails? Already it looks like it belongs in Louvre, it is a masterpiece that resembles how much can be done with legos, keep up the good work. Hopefully you can keep off Napoleon at the battle of Trafalgar.

Thanks Captain Merlot. Yes she will be fully rigged with working rigging and sails... eventually. One thing at a time though

The rigging looks excellent! It's looks very clean and neat. The poop also looks good- though the Captain's skylight could maybe be taller, with side windows (though the one that you have might be preliminary). The quarterdeck also has all of the proper details- though it looks a little cramped. To remedy this, perhaps you could use some SNOT techniques to have the outer hull be black, and the inner hull white, yellow, or red, like this:

With a lighter color, the deck may look larger- just a thought, and it would be difficult, but perhaps the Danish Brig posted a few weeks ago might give you an idea of how to do that. Have you thought of a name for her yet?

I thought about a solution for this for a long time while building the quarterdeck, I simply couldnt make it work without making it really thick. I want it to be smooth so I cant have tiles on only one side, if you know what I mean. I even thought about coating the inside with Lego stickers, but couldn't find any suitable enough. It wont be plain though, today I added pin rails to the walls of the quarterdeck to make it more interesting. Here's how it looks with the quarterdeck 9 pounders in place:

That's truly beautiful! This rigging (and the rest of the ship) is certainly one of the best I've ever seen here.

I like it that you're using light and black string, and brown masts with black yards. It looks very neat and solid.

The only thing I'm not sure about is the chains below the platforms.

They don't look very close to the real things IMO and that strikes me on an - outside of that- perfect realistic ship

But I'm very fond of the new deadeye technique! Expect this on the frontpage soon!

Thanks for the blog Admiral! Much appreciated as always The chains are still kind of an experiment. I've tried lots of things so far, from skeleton arms to lightsaber blades, the chains are the only thing the right length so far. I may have to tie them instead of using something from TLG, but Id like to use a piece of some kind.

Are you intending to glue the ratlines? I've tried them inspired by Perfectionist and I am very pleased with the result. Getting the technique right takes some tries though and also some fingers glued but its rather easy ofter some attempts and the end result is delicious.

Keep up the excellent work!

I will do ratlines, though it will probably be one of the last things that gets completed. I don't want to use glue, simply because it would make it impossible to retension one shroud or repair one line. I will share my technique once I get there

I’m a little tardy to the conversation here, but wow, that rigging looks great! I may have to borrow some of your concepts for my next project. If I’m not mistaken, your lower shrouds are all one section of cord, which doubles back, extending all the way up to the fighting tops? Did you not have trouble getting them taught without canting your masts out of position? I tried something similar before and it was an utter nightmare. The whole ship is fantastic and I honestly hope to have a chance to see her complete and in person some day.

Thanks Kurigan! My original method was to use one long string woven back and forth. This method worked well, and was surprisingly easy to do, but it wasn't modular enough. There was no way to repair just one shroud, or add deadeyes, so I came up with this method instead. Now each shroud is an individual line from one side to the other.

Here's another quick update. I decided on red for the ships boats instead of yellow, it complements the ship well. Here they are mounted on the boat booms on the midships section:

The midships section is now completed, apart from adding the cannons. The black tubes on the sides are the skid beams. They are designed to keep objects from scraping the hull while being raised onto the ship. Here's how it looks fitted to the quarterdeck:

Thanks everyone for the comments and advice! Much appreciated, keep it up

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Simply STUNNING! Your attention to detail and effort to create realism is spot on! I actually thought I had a pretty nice MOC going until I saw this thread. Almost makes me want to go back to the drawing board and start from scratch. Well done!!

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I don't know much about pirate ships and MOCing them, but I know a beautiful build when I see one! That is incredible! I am extremely happy I found this thread today! I wish you the best as you come closer to finishing!

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I think the front can be thinner. Great MOC! I wonder what the completed thing would look like. I am building my own war galleon, it's kind of similar to yours. May we have more pictures please? Good luck finishing this!

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Simply STUNNING! Your attention to detail and effort to create realism is spot on! I actually thought I had a pretty nice MOC going until I saw this thread. Almost makes me want to go back to the drawing board and start from scratch. Well done!!

Thanks! I wouldn't go back to the drawing board but I'm glad if it inspires you.

Wow man, wow!

Simply astonishing and it's not even finished yet, I really want to see it for real

This tread will be very useful for me later when I try a Shio-of-the-line, the progress pictures are very interesting.

Keep it up, you're building a miracle

Thanks Sebeus! Don't think that it will make it near you but it will probably make it to Brickworld one of these days. Looking forward to your SOTL someday! Hope it's as good as your Dutchman

I think the front can be thinner. Great MOC! I wonder what the completed thing would look like. I am building my own war galleon, it's kind of similar to yours. May we have more pictures please? Good luck finishing this!

Not quite sure what you mean by thinner. A ship-of-the-line has a very bluff bow. If you mean the beakhead then yes I agree with you, it is a bit thick. More pictures? Really? The previous 90 weren't enough? Ok how about one more awesome one... BAM:

I finally finished all of the ships cannons. This is the picture I've been itching to take for about a month now. Since the cannons are done I thought Id line up all the ships firepower for one last picture before they take their places on the gundecks. There are 60 cannons lined up here, plus 4 carronades on the forecastle. Overall a whole lot of firepower

One last shot of all the cannons:

The quarterdeck 9 pounders are on the front right, main gun deck 24 pounders next, and the upper gun deck 18 pounders in the back. Each cannon is at least 16 pieces so nearly 1000 pieces just in the cannons! The pieces of rope are not glued, they are wrapped around the cascabel (back of the cannon) and then jammed into the front under the barrel. I like the look and doesn't require it to be tied to blocks in the ship.

Thanks for the comments. More updates soon I promise!

Dread Pirate Wesley

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Edit: after staring at the pics for a while longer one thing that bothers me is how the side of the very first gunport of the bottom deck is exposed. Can't think of a way to fix it besides shifting the whole thing back one right now though. I assume you would've already changed it if it were really conspicuous in real life though, so I guess maybe it's just the camera angle.

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She is fantastic? And so near of being finished… How many bricks do you esteem that went to her?

On a side note, my only suggestion of improvement in a future ship is the cannon design. They look reasonably nice but I'm not specially fond of them for two reasons: in the first place they don't allow for vertical rotation, which is not very accurate, and moreover the base is a bit odd, adding that it is not very easy to distinguish between the several calibers.

The skid beams are very accurate and good, I don't think I have seen them before in Lego ships. Can't wait to see her finish and the addition of the small details missing (rigging, etc) Already one of my favourite ships ever made.

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Edit: after staring at the pics for a while longer one thing that bothers me is how the side of the very first gunport of the bottom deck is exposed. Can't think of a way to fix it besides shifting the whole thing back one right now though. I assume you would've already changed it if it were really conspicuous in real life though, so I guess maybe it's just the camera angle.

It does look worse with the gunport closed from that angle. I dont have a good solution to this other than to fill it with a cannon

I hope this gets the top shelf in the bookcase

I think it will take up the entire book case!

Ok, now im seriosly iching also to make a ship-of-the-line as you have.

Honestly, im out of words at the moment. But even that its a bit late now to say, i rather use Teddy version of 24 pounders. Click here to see. I cant wait to see her under full sail.

Those look a little old fashioned with the fluted barrel, but I like the design. I might have to use that if I ever make a galleon or 16th century ship of some kind.

How many bricks do you esteem that went to her?

On a side note, my only suggestion of improvement in a future ship is the cannon design. They look reasonably nice but I'm not specially fond of them for two reasons: in the first place they don't allow for vertical rotation, which is not very accurate, and moreover the base is a bit odd, adding that it is not very easy to distinguish between the several calibers.

Well... total bricklink orders are approximately 6500 bricks. Not all of those made it in to the ship, and I used plenty that I already had from other projects, so it's difficult to say. Probably in the vicinity of 6000.

As for the cannons the main thing I was going for was scale, which is correct. They do not elevate which is unfortunate but wasn't a deal breaker for me. They also had to be only 2 studs wide, which was a challenge. I have yet to see this done in a 2 wide cannon. I think new member Wellesley has an innovative design that could be adapted to be 2 wide, but it also doesnt elevate (that I'm aware of). I'm sure it can be done though, so perhaps someone can figure it out.

more pictures Wanted needed!

Ask and ye shall receive!

The foremast now carries all her spars with control lines. Turned in to quite a maze of ropes! Here is an update on the rigging:

This has been one of the most challenging parts of this build. Mostly because I've been trying to disect rigging from other models from photos. I don't have the best source material when it comes to rigging so Ive had to improvise a lot. Any recommendations on books or websites that have good tutorials would help!

I also came up with a method for doing the stunsail booms. They turned out a bit thick, but I wanted them to be functional, which required them to move and also (eventually) carry a sail. Here's how they turned out:

The bow and quarterdeck also recieved some tweaks, starting with the beakhead. It didn't match my plans very well and needed to be extended both horizontally and vertically. The head rails also had to be lengthened to make this work. Here's what it looks like now:

Much larger than the original version. Just for fun here's a comparison with the original concept:

As you can see it is getting more and more detailed. I even revisited the doors just for Horatio Last thing to be rigged will be the bowsprit, which is also proving challenging. Hopefully that will come together soon. Thanks for over 30,000 views so far! I appreciate all the support.

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How does she look in comparison to prefab ships (ie can she be displayed with the Pickle? Praetorian seems less likely to look good next to it)?

As for the rigging references, maybe you could take a look at this? I can't make head or tail of all the jargon in it, but you seem much more knowledgeable about these things and as a period book aiming to be "a comprehensive English textbook of rigging, seamanship and naval tactics," you might find it useful, there's pages and pages on studdingsails, tops, and blocks just to name a few, there's really a lot in it.

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The only thing I would try is to change your deck color into light gray and beige and then choosing the best one after all.

At first the deck was all tan, and it seemed too bright. Grey or light bley would be interesting, for me dark tan was the best with such a large area. Plus it's unique since it's very hard to make an entire ship with dark tan decks, especially 3 decks!

Thanks for the pics, she looks fantastic, as always.

How does she look in comparison to prefab ships (ie can she be displayed with the Pickle? Praetorian seems less likely to look good next to it)?

As for the rigging references, maybe you could take a look at this? I can't make head or tail of all the jargon in it, but you seem much more knowledgeable about these things and as a period book aiming to be "a comprehensive English textbook of rigging, seamanship and naval tactics," you might find it useful, there's pages and pages on studdingsails, tops, and blocks just to name a few, there's really a lot in it.

Interesting question. Pickle has the quality to match any ship in my opinion. She's small but still minifig illusion scale, with some really interesting details and custom work. I think they complement each other very well, what do you think:

Praetorian is a different story. She was the first ship I built, and although very strong not really a match for the level of detail of the above ships. Currently she is in dry dock though, getting refitted with new spars and rigging. I'll post an update on her sooner or later.

Thanks a lot for that website Skipper! There is a lot of invaluable detail in there once you filter through it. The past several weeks I've spent studying rigging to try and make sense of it. This book was also a great resource. I think I worked out most of the kinks and have finally put all the lines in place. The end product looks like this:

Obviously no sails yet, those will come later. There's a few more lines that will show up once sails start to appear as well, but other than that the rigging is where I want it to be. Here's a view of all the control lines leading down to the deck:

Also finished the design for the stern lanterns. I'm sticking with two for right now. In my research I've found many models that have three lanterns, some with two, and a few with none. I don't really know what the "standard" would be, or why there would be variation but I like two lanterns. It reminds me of this painting of Bellona:

Here is my version of the lanterns:

I also enlarged the captain's skylight. This was the last part that bothered me with the deck. It is removable to access the cabin if necessary:

This will probably the last update I provide to this thread as the ship is so near completion. I will now focus on all the small details and adding crew and sails. Once she is "finished" I will start a new thread with her back story and new photos. As always though let me know what you think! Here is one last photo as she prepares for her first public display this weekend:

Thanks for looking and commenting everyone!

Dread Pirate Wesley

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I really have nothing but respect for your undertaking and for your perseverence during the build. With her being almost finished now, all I can say is wow. Such attention to detail on a huge model like that is really nothing short of impressive! :) Such a beautiful ship. God I love those masts and that rigging.